Deviled ham salad

After a full day in the kitchen, I like to take a walk to clear my head. On a recent stroll, I spotted a friend holding court in a neighborhood Southern restaurant. He had just moved to New York and as I hadn’t seen him in a while, I popped inside and said howdy. We decided to order some light snacks and saw deviled tasso listed on the menu. What’s that, we wondered? We ordered it and after one bite, I realized it was nothing more than a variation on my old favorite, deviled ham.

Deviled ham also made an appearance at a Derby Day party. A friend had found a can of Underwood’s Deviled Ham and brought it to share with the other guests. She’d never eaten it before but was intrigued by the iconic white can with the grinning devil. (Does anyone know what deviled, when applied to food, actually means?) I hadn’t seen that can in years, but I instantly remembered how much I loved deviled ham and pickle sandwiches when I was young. I decided it was time to make a batch of my own.

I didn’t have to look far for a recipe.

At Christmas, my cousin Susan brought her famous ham salad to our family gathering and the big bowl of it was gone in about a minute. We spread it on buttery crackers, a perfect vehicle for the ham salad that was filled with flavors spicy, tangy and sweet. I asked her for the recipe and she laughed and said she didn’t have one. Of course, she didn’t! That happens so often in my family—we just throw together ingredients and taste until everything is balanced. And I’m not complaining—that’s certainly my favorite way to cook.

She did, however, give me her list of ingredients. And like a detective I took these clues and tried to solve the mystery of her famous ham salad. It actually wasn’t difficult—if you have any experience making protein-based salads such as tuna salad, chicken salad or even pimento cheese, you get a feel for how much of each ingredient should belong. This time, however, I kept notes of just how much I was adding so I could pass it on to you.

Ham salad is versatile as you can stuff it into celery, spread it on crackers, scoop it onto an iceberg wedge or layer it on buttered bread. And while it’s perfect for warm days, I find that it’s pretty much appreciated at any time of year.

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Deviled ham salad

Servings8

AuthorLisa Fain

Ingredients

2cupschopped ham

1/4cupchopped red bell pepper

1/4cuponion, finely diced

1large dill pickle, diced

1jalapeño, seeded, stemmed, and diced

3tablespoonsmayo

3tablespoonsmustard

1teaspoonpickle juice

Salt

Black pepper

Instructions

In a food processor, mix all the ingredients together until blended but not too smooth as you want a bit of texture. Taste and adjust any seasoning or add more mayonnaise and mustard if you like. Keeps in the refrigerator for a few days.

I had always thought "deviled" (as in "deviled eggs") meant mustard was added. According to good old Wikipedia, it's broader than that: "The term "deviled", in reference to food, was in use in the 18th century, first known print reference appearing in 1786.[1] In the 19th century, it came to be used most often with spicy or zesty food, including eggs prepared with mustard, pepper, or other ingredients stuffed in the yolk cavity."

I like deviled ham or chicken on saltine crackers for a trip straight back to childhood. I like any kind of chilled spread on crackers for a snack at the beach; it gets me out the door faster when I don't have to make sandwiches ahead of time!

Minced celery is the very best in this for texture and color, but in times of no celery I've put in some minced water chestnuts and called it good, too.

My mom made deviled ham salad using the Underwoods Deviled Ham for our lunches and it was a favorite! Very often when I cook a ham and have some left I will put it in my food processor and make my own deviled ham salad…it's yummy!

I have always taken "deviled" to mean, "garnished with a homeopathic amount of paprika in a winking symbolic reference to capsicum," i.e., about as naughty as white folks ever got in the 1950's, i.e., "This dish makes you grieve for the spicy food your ancestors never ate."

I am pregnant and just had the most wicked Deviled Ham craving just this past weekend. I was reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls and she mentioned it several times. Books do that to me. Anyway, I went straight to the store and bought a can of Underwood's. All I added was some diced celery for crunch but dill pickle sounds fantastic as well. Thank you for your just in time post.

Devil–a culinary term which . . . first appeared as a noun in the 18th century, and then in the early 19th century as a verb meaning to cook something with fiery hot spices or condiments. . . . The term was presumably adopted because of the connection between the devil and the excessive heat in Hell. . . . Boswell, Dr Johnson's biographer, frequently refers to partaking of a dish of "devilled bones" for supper, which suggests an earlier use (reference 3).

Southern church suppers often boasted "stuffed" eggs or ham as they thought the reference to the devil might not "go down a treat" with the brethren. 🙂 But oddly enough, at those church suppers there was always a Devil's Food (Chocolate) Cake which I can only assume is so utterly rich and decadent it HAS to be "of the devil hisself". Frankly, I'll take Devil's Food cake over Angel Food anyday. I'm just sayin'….

Oh boy, I loved those little cans of deviled ham. I figured they were just another processed sodium bomb, like Vienna Sausage sandwiches, that I was better off giving up. Thanks for this decidedly less guilt-inducing recipe.

DessertForTwo is right about tasso. I can't believe such a delicious pork product is so close to Texas and still so confined to Louisiana! It's like never hearing about andouille or something. The Laurelhurst Market guys in Portland, OR, of all places, make wonderful tasso.

Lisa, I live in central Texas and deviled ham is something I always have in my pantry. My favorite way to make it is with jalapeno bread and butter pickles, a little mayo and some onions. I am going to wish you a happy birthday for tomorrow. Hope I am remembering right. It is my sweet hubby's bd also tomorrow and I will be making him his favorite cake. Buttermmilk pound cake. Hope it's not so hot tomorrow since it take 70 minutes to bake. But it is good. Thank you for your recipes, i always enjoy them so much. Brenda

Another thought from the anonymous pregnant lady. My mother used to make an appetizer with hollowed out brown and serve rolls filled with deviled ham, covered with "nippy" cheese (and I mean nippy in all its 1950's glory), then put under the broiler to melt the cheese.

this made me grin. When I was a kid, the only way I'd eat deviled ham sandwiches was with sweet pickle slices (lots of them), and mustard. I just love that combination. I'll have to give this recipe a try.

I know, you are going to feel really sorry for me now, but we don't have dill pickles in the UK! What they call gherkins or pickled dill cucumbers here are sweet and sour (sort of like bread and butter pickles). Do you think I should try one of those, or avoid the sweetness and just use some fresh dill instead? I have found that some of the fancy pate available here tastes a lot like that deviled ham in the can to me! 😉

I always thought "deviled" meant chopped/mince to the point you didn't know what the devil was in it any more. I always wanted my mom to buy those little cans of Underwood, but it was a luxury we just couldn't afford. When I finally was able to buy my own can, I hated it. It was over salty and mushy as heck! I guess it's a textural thing. My ham salad has diced ham in it. I do dice it small but no food processor for me thank you. And like another poster, I also thought one of the ingredients in "deviled" foods was mustard. Gotta have me some spicy brown mustard, or heck even yellow.

Loved Twinkies as a kid, had lone last year and nearly heaved. Awful stuff, might have liked the deviled ham when I was a kid, but no thank you now.

When I was catering, I used to mix the Underwood deviled ham with some of that can of cranberry jelly to make petite little sandwiches. May have added something else, but can't remember. Funny, how those little sandwiches were just on my mind recently.

Nippy Cheese – is usually American Cheese or Sharp Cheddar. If it is mentioned in a retro American recipe it is usually American Cheese. I have found recipes for dip called Nippy Cheese but as a recipe ingredient I usually use American or Cheddar. My mom used American in her appetizer.

I grew up on deviled ham sandwiches and not from a can. My mom made them all the time and of course no recipe. I love the addition of jalapeno in this recipe. Gotta make it. I've never had the canned version before by the way.

My mama's gonna love me! I'll make her this and she'll stop bugging me to get my hair fixed.

She used to mix that canned deviled ham with mayo for lunch all the time, and my brother and I thought it was disgusting and refused to eat it. The last time I saw one of those cans, my parents were encouraging me to create a survival kit for when the big one comes (earthquake) and I put some cans in my box with the batteries and flashlights and first aid kit. My mother found it insulting that I only considered deviled ham food to eat when nothing else was available and I faced starvation.

But fresh ham salad sounds yummy – but mostly I want to score some mama points.

Way before our University contracted out the food service there was a deviled ham salad sandwich on the menu that is talked about by many of the older alumni. The last cafeteria director before the contracting out took if off the menu because it was actually finely chopped bologna instead of ham. When she made them change the name to match what it really was the students would not purchase it any more so it was dropped off the menu. When prepared with a food processor, it tastes just like it came out of that little can.

To us, ham salad and deviled ham were very different things. We ate Underwood deviled ham on saltine crackers, or in sandwiches with pickle and mayo (just as you describe).

But ham salad had the pickle and mayo already in it. I think ours has just a touch of onion, and it might have a touch of mustard – but I don't think so. It's kind of slightly sweet. You have it for finger sandwiches at parties.

We've got a couple of cans of underwood down in the basement. They are there for power outages, which still make me want deviled ham on saltines by candlelight. 😉

My mother-in-law make a family favorite of deviled ham. I've never tried it but very politely thanked her when she made it – and it was always GONE! before I had to try it. Now I regret missing out! 🙂 I think I'll give this a whirl and see if it meets her tastebuds. She is, afterall, one of my best friends. Yes, I have an awesome set of in-laws. *HURRAY!* Below is an article on the history of 'deviling' regarding food. So interesting! Thanks for spurring on my curiousity. You ROCK!

I'm glad someone else mentioned "ham" salad made with bologna. That's how my mom and grandma both made it when I was a kid. I remember being disappointed when I discovered it wasn't really ham, but I still liked it!

This Deviled Ham is sooo yummy! This was our dinner last night. I made fesh bread and baked somewhat like a strata.

As far as the term "deviled", you piqued my curiosity. Linda's Culinary Dictionary defines as:

deviled – (1) A term describing food that is dark, rich, chocolate, spicily piquant or stimulating it is "deviled." Means a highly seasoned, chopped, ground, or whole mixture that is served hot or cold. Many foods, including eggs and crab, are served "deviled."

From the Oxford English Dictionary – the 1786 reference is the first use of this word in print:"Devil…A name for various highly-seasoned broiled or fried dishes, also for hot ingredients. 1786, Craig "Lounger NO. 86 'Make punch, brew negus, and season a devil.

(2) The earliest use of this culinary term was typically associated with kidneys and other meats, not stuffed eggs.

(3) The term "deviled" referring to meat, fish, and cheese spreads, is somewhat different. Spiced potted meats have been popular for centuries. William Underwood introduced his famous deviled ham in 1867.

James Boswell (1740-1795), Samuel Johnson's biographer, often referred to partaking of deviled bones for supper. In a biography published in 1791, James Boswell referred to partaking of a dish of “devilled bones” for supper. The bones were generally those of cold poultry, game or beef. The pieces of meat were covered with what was then called devil sauces. NOTE: This may be the earliest published use of the word “devil” as a cooking term meaning “to cook something with hot spices or condiments.” Most Food historians believe that the term was adopted because of the connection between the devil and the excessive heat in Hell.

How timely – on a recent trip to my southern in-laws, a large bowl of ham salad was placed before me (with the required buttery crackers). I'm from New England and the "salads" I grew up with had green vegetables and croutons. I was a bit wary. It took only one bite for me to ask for more. My father-in-law's recipe is very similar. Thanks for sharing!

Lisa, either Grandpa (Dad) or Grandma used to love Underwood's as I remember it on the pantry shelf. Never cared for the concoction too much myself but sure liked the little paper-wrapped can. My money sez it was Grandpa's treat.

BTW, Susan would be your first cousin once removed. She explained all that first cousin second cousin business a few Thanksgiving's ago.

I haven't had a deviled ham sandwich in years. Mother used to make them with mayo. One of my favorite guilty pleasure is to mix a can of underwood deviled chicken with cream cheese and eat on triscuits.

I too am an underwood graduate. But now I enjoy making my own ham salad ala the food processer. it lets me combine different levels of heat and spice with soft cheeses and sometime gherkins. But I always liked my deviled ham on soft fresh white bread with the crfust removed. thanks for the memory

Just found your blog looking for ham salad recipes, not that I've ever used a recipe (like your family). Deviled means "highly seasoned" although I don't know that canned deviled ham is "highly" seasoned. It certainly has its own unique smell and flavor, however. Good to keep around in the "in case of a tornado or other natural disaster" kit. 😉 I look forward to checking out more of your recipes.

This recipe looks good. I am sorry if someone already mentioned this, but my mother would add a few ground peanuts to the mixture, or less than a tablespoon of peanut butter. This creates or enhances a smoky flavor, without making it taste like peanut butter. Anonymous West Virginian.

Mom would make us deviled ham sandwiches, for school lunches, from the can or minced, then combined with chopped sweet or dill pickles and mayonnaise, sometimes chopped cheddar. I am 82, loved them all those many years ago and STILL love 'em!!

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